Building on his previous research on the Lutheran Church in East Germany, Robert Goeckel seeks to answer several research questions relating to church-state relations in communist systems by focusing on the former Soviet republics of Estonia and Latvia, the two western republics that had national Lutheran churches. Notably, this means that Goeckel omits a focus on Lithuania, a country similar to Poland in that the Catholic Church has played a vital social and cultural role in the nation's history. Latvia, however, does have a historic Catholic presence in the southeast region of Latgāle, so the Catholic dimension of the story is covered to some degree. This allows for a comparison of the Lutheran and Catholic churches under Soviet rule that is often revealing. While the book offers several new insights that add to our understanding of church-state relations in the Soviet Union, the most impressive strength of the book is the depth of research conducted by Goeckel in official state archives in the Baltic region and Russia. The author has consulted hundreds of documents in the archives and these primary sources make up the majority of notes provided for each chapter.

Goeckel tells his story chronologically, and we see that there were many fluctuations in Soviet policy towards the churches as history progressed from the initial Stalinist period (the Baltic states were annexed in 1940) through the Khrushchev and Brezhnev eras, ending with the “singing revolutions” that occurred in response to Gorbachev's reforms. The institutional churches were allowed to survive, although in a greatly diminished form, but the Soviet policies did result in a dramatic decrease in Church membership and attendance. Although many churches were closed by the Soviets, the continued existence of institutional churches and their bishops allowed the regime to try to use them for its own purposes, such as promoting its peace message during the Cold War, while also making it easier for the KGB to keep an eye on the churches and their followers. Goeckel notes that the hierarchy of the Lutheran churches in particular was compromised by the KGB. The Soviets had greater trust in the local Catholic hierarchy in the first few decades of communist rule, but the Catholic Church in Latvia also suffered because of Soviet suspicions regarding the Vatican's role in world affairs.

Official pressure on the churches included the arrest and deportation of priests, the promotion of trustworthy clergy to positions of authority, the severing of ties with the west, efforts to limit certain sacraments and pilgrimages, the substitution of religious rituals with secular versions, and the promotion of atheistic propaganda. A reduced church presence was tolerated in the short term because the Soviets were confident in the long-term disappearance of religious belief under communist rule. Those who did participate in church services could suffer at school or the workplace. Given this hostile environment, local bishops were often forced to show loyalty or at least refrain from criticism of Soviet policy in order to maintain their positions and keep their churches open. Goeckel provides many biographical details of various Estonian and Latvian bishops during the Soviet period, and some did a better job of maintaining their integrity than others.

Goeckel's focus on the institutional churches and official Soviet policy is justified, but the story told on this level lacks the aspect of human drama and emotion that must have been felt by church followers pressured to abandon their beliefs, or the terror inflicted on priests who were arrested and sometimes shot for their religious opposition to communism. The “singing revolutions” alluded to in the title are given only a cursory treatment at the end of the book. Goeckel says that the Estonian and Latvian churches played “harmony” during the struggle for independence in the sense that they merely went along with the flow of events rather than lead them. This was due to their diminished presence in the life of the people after forty-five years of Soviet rule. While the regime never did wipe out religion entirely, the rise of atheism in Estonia and Latvia represented a “success” of Soviet policy. Thus, the examples of Estonia and Latvia may hold lessons for the future of Christianity in China if the Communist Party plays a leading role in conducting church affairs and appointing bishops.